Detaling paint with lots of little cracks

W

wizardofahs

New member
Tomorrow i have a guy comming over with an 82 olds... it's a light blueish color and the paint is really cracked. Not big cracks, but just a little network of cracks... probably caused by the sun. They are only on the roof and hood, but they cover just about all these areas. The best way i can describe it is it's like a veiny system of cracks.



I was going to detail it for him tomorrow with some blackfire to bring back some of the color. But what about the cracks? Should i go over them with an abrasive like FI-II and a cutting pad to try and round them off.. or should i hit it with a polishing compound to remove them all togeather. I'm sure the BF polish will at least fill those areas in a little to make them less noticible... and i told him that really the only pure solution would be a new paint job. But i've never worked on a car like this so i'm not sure what will/won't work. I'm a little worried that the PC and cutting pad will chip off some of the cracked areas... that area of the car is lighter right now because there is some cleaner wax stuck in the veins.. i'm assuming that the dawn wash will get that out and blend it a little more. It's really a nice looking car and i'm sure the difference will be amazing... but anyone have any advice for these areas?
 
The cracks might run through the clearcoat or through the paint down to the primer. I would polish to see if you can remove them but if you can't then just BF it. You are a detailer, not a miracle worker.
 
Yeah, I'm with Intel here - I suspect his paint is beyond repair. The cracks are almost certainly failed clearcoat. You can clay, smooth it out, and add gloss to the top but the cracks are unlikely to go away - and trying to polish them out is likely to take you all the way through the clear.
 
Yup failed clear coat, using a polish will smooth the paint out but it will also make the cracks more noticible, after polishing i would wash the car wih Dawn to remove all the fillers from the polish, you can than use the BF All paint protection.



BTW don't use any carnauba wax. :scared
 
I kinda doubt it's clearcoated.



I'd guess it's an old single stage paint that's just been abused due to age, since I can't find any 2 stage paints GM was applying back then. Personally, I'd stay away from it - I'd be afraid it would end up looking worse than the guy expected it would, after spending the dollars.
 
I did one like that....The sides of the car did fine....but roof, hood and trunk look bad.....before i started it ....the dirt seemed to cover all the cracks and other things and when i used cleaner and stuff it brought all the imperfections out...in the light.......It depressed me, but we tried...

jeff
 
If I am correct (hopefully showroom will drop in here) the clear coat is cracked. You can use a high speed polisher with a foam pad. I read yesterday that the foam pads work by heat, warmng up the clearcoat and smoothing it out to fix any defects.



So, your going to need a high speed rotary, some foam pads and some experience.
 
I'm with Forrest here. I don't think is a clearcoat paint job (pretty rare for 1982). It sounds like the paint's been heat cracked due to neglect. Not much you can do about it. My concern is that if you start polishing the cracked areas some of the paint will literally flake off. Could be a problem with the car's owner.



Basically the paint has had its plasticizers evaporated by the sun. There is no more elasticity in it. Same thing would happen to your skin if exposed to the sun without protection.



You might want to discuss this with the owner and set his expectations. Be careful with this one. And good luck.
 
Yea i already told him that i probably couldn't make the cracks disappear and make it look brand new, just do what i can to try and make them less noticible.. the area that's cracked has a whiteish color right now because there is some Zymol cleaner wax filled in. I think what he's really interested in is protection... so the car doesn't get any worse. He understands that there is only so much i can do.... still though i'm hoping he'll be impressed when he see's the results.
 
Lets face it..you are looking at a 20 year old paint job that had been used, abused and when it comes to love, refused! There is nothing that you can do to bring it back to life... :sosad
 
danger danger danger there is no way to fix cracked abused paint!I played around on my brothers station car and i found out that the cracking paint will fall off the car leaving chips and hairline slits. there is very little you can do for a car with 20 some odd years of paint abuse!The parts of the car that are not abused you can clean up but that is about it. BE CAREFUL
 
Well... you guys were right.. couldn't do anything to remove the cracked paint... a little FI-II and a PC only caused a little bit more damage. So i skiped the abrasive and went right for the PC and BF polish... that seemed to go on fairly well.. though on the trunk i couldn't keep it on.. it would just absorb into the back (had a feeling it might b/c when i washed it it absorbed the water), and caused dark/light areas... impossible to get on even.. so i just washed all that off. The BF protectant was then applied (similiar isssues with absorbing on the trunk). All in all, the cracks were still there, but at the end you could only see them if you lookd close. It no longer had a white cloudy look b/c of the cracks, but actually lookd semi decent. The customer was very impressed and said i made his car 10 years younger (then added the joke about weither or not i could do that for his wife)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top